Dreier: People are 'peeling off' in opposition to health care bill

Rep. David Dreier (R-CA), ranking member on the rules committee, spoke with reporters today about his disdain towards the Democrats’ procedural motions in attempting to get the Senate health care bill passed.

“I know the energy and effort being expended by [Democrats] is to try and avoid forcing their members to take a tough vote,” Mr. Dreier said.

“It is very painful and troubling to see the gymnastics through which [Democrats] are going through to avoid accountability, and I hope very much that at the end of the day that if we are going to have a vote, we will have a clean up or down vote that will allow the American people to see who is supporting this Senate bill and who is not supporting this Senate bill.”

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When I asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for her response to Mr. Dreier’s statements, she shot back, “I haven’t the faintest idea what he said, but this is very direct and very true. It’s about accountability in the insurance companies. It’s about affordability for the middle class. It’s about accessibility for many more people. It’s not about gymnastics, except if that’s part of the wellness program.”

When I asked Mr. Dreier if the addition of the student loan provision as part of the shell could perhaps turn off certain Democrats who were not pleased with student loan legislation by itself, Mr. Dreier noted that he’s heard Democrats are still “peeling off” in opposition to the health care bill.

“Obviously they are doing this in an attempt to get more people on board. I don’t know what kind of an impact that will have on votes. One thing I have heard is that while there’s this sense that it’s 10 votes apart, I’m also hearing that there are people who are beginning to peel off, and I don’t know if that is reacting to the student loan provision. Peeling off in opposition to the bill now. I don’t know if it has to do with the student loans. I’m just hearing that’s happening.”

Yesterday evening the House Budget Committee released 2,300 pages of a “shell” reconciliation bill. It is not the actual reconciliation bill with all the demands and alterations, but a vessel that Democrats need to begin the health care debate. This shell bill will then go to the Rules Committee where its stripped and inserted with all of the changes members have negotiated.

Philip Klein at the American Spectator spoke with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) about how Democrats will use the reconciliation process, so Democrats in the House will end up only voting for a “rule” not the actual health care bill. Mr. Klein writes:

“Just a ‘simple up or down vote,’ remember?

Last week, Ryan told me that Republicans don’t have the votes to stop the bill in the Budget Committee and that Democrats will also be able to prevent Republicans from offering any amendments. However, GOP members will be able to offer ‘motions to instruct’ the Rules Committee, that Ryan said will be used highlight problems with the “unprecedented” step that Democrats are taking.”

The Democrats must get two bills to the President’s desk.

The Senate-passed health care bill

The reconciliation “fix it” legislation, a.k.a the “sidecar.”

The House Budget Committee today began the process by marking up the “fix it” bill or the shell (mentioned previously). Later, the text of the shell will be replaced with the ,unseen as of March 15, text of the reconciliation bill. However, the Democrats will likely still lack the votes for the Senate-passed bill, so Republicans expect them to employ the rule that provides consideration of the Senate and sidecar bills to keep to a minimum the amount of difficult votes Democrats would have to take.

Mr. Dreier’s office issued five different scenarios Democrats could try in this reconciliation circumstance involving the “Slaughter Solution”:

Scenario 1: “Play it Straight”

Senate Bill/Senate Amendment H.R. 3950: Rule provides for an up or down vote.

Reconciliation “Sidecar” (yet to be reported by Budget Cmte): Rule provides for an up or down vote.

Reconciliation “Sidecar” (yet to be reported by Budget Cmte): Rule #1 allows the Rules Committee to turn off the Motion to Recommit and Rule #2 “deems” the sidecar bill passed immediately and sends the bill to the Senate.

The health care debate will continue to go on through the week and likely the weekend. Once the reconciliation bill is kicked into and then out of the rules committee, prepare for the fireworks to truly begin.

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About the Author

Kerry Picket, a former Opinion Blogger/Editor of The Watercooler, was associate producer for the Media Research Center, a content producer for Robin Quivers of “The Howard Stern Show” on Sirius satellite radio and a production assistant and copy writer at MTV.